Publishing-Ready Roadmap | Where Your Children's Book Fits in the Market

Know which shelf your book belongs on before you write it.

Plenty of children's book manuscripts get passed on for reasons that have nothing to do with the writing. Wrong word count for the category. Wrong age range for the story being told. A market the book was never going to sell in.

This course covers how the children's book market is actually organized, and the 3 questions every publisher asks before they read past your first page.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN...

1. The 6 children's book categories, and which one your story actually belongs in
2. The word count and age range publishers expect for each category
3. The 3 questions every publisher asks about a manuscript
4. The 5 markets your book could sell in, and the one most writers should start with
5. The 4 publishing myths that keep good manuscripts from being read

WHAT YOU'LL RECEIVE...

1. Video walkthrough of the full roadmap
2. The Category Breakdown, all 6 categories with a marketability check, age range, word count, and example titles
3. The Market Map, the 5 markets your book could sell in and the default to start with
4. The 3-Question Publisher Framework
5. The 4 Publishing Myths, busted
6. Submission Formatting Standards
7. The Industry Lingo Guide, a plain-English decoder for the words everyone in publishing uses and nobody explains
8. Printable Manuscript Submission Checklist
9. A curated resource list for when you start sending your story out
10. Bonus: the Kid's Book Publishing-Readiness Check, a 10-minute check you can run on any manuscript
11. The full printable PDF guide, downloadable from inside the course
12. Lifetime access

Who's this course for?

This works at any point from "I have an idea" to "I have a finished draft." It's most useful early, because knowing which shelf your book belongs on changes how you write it.

It covers picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult.

If you already know your category and word count cold, you'll find this too foundational.

How soon will you get access?

Your course access is granted after purchase. You'll get an instant download with your login instructions and what to expect, then a separate email with your course invite.

All our courses are self-paced with lifetime access. If you've bought a course from us before, you'll use the same login and find everything in one place.

This is an online course. Nothing physical will ship.

Please note: Our digital products are for personal use only. While you can use the fillable fields on your computer or print out the sheets yourself, you cannot share this with anyone else, make a copy, or use this for resale.